Zelda Adventure 2
by Negetive2digit
Summary: The long-awaited prequel to Zelda Heroes! In this story, inspired by Sonic Adventure 2, we get to see the origins of Knil and learn more about him, as well as see Vaati's debut in this little series.
1. Chapter 1

**So I finally got started on the prequel to Zelda Heroes. Welcome to Zelda Adventure 2! I'd write Zelda Advenure 1, but I don't have that one, so 2 is just as good. I own nothing!**

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><p><strong>Good Story<strong>

**Chapter 1: Confusion, Pursuit, and False Imprisonment**

**Monday, 07:42, Hyrule Castle Town**

Link stretched and yawned as he went over to collect his complementary meal that the inn had given him for staying the previous night. He wouldn't have bothered, but his trek across Hyrule had taken him to Hyrule Castle Town in time for night to fall and, rather than sleep on the ground outside, he decided to check into the local inn. After eating groggily, reviving a bit over a cup of coffee, he returned his key to the innkeeper and thanked him for his service before scratching his head and heading for the door. No matter what, he just wasn't a morning person, as he had been reminded on numerous occasions.

As he stepped outside, it became clear that something was amiss. Come to think of it, the innkeeper had been a bit nervous, and the inn's eating area had been a bit more crowded than usual. Maybe he should have paid attention to what they were talking about. The streets seemed fairly empty and there was the sound of explosions on the other side of town, as well as signs of military activity.

_Wonder what's going on? _He wondered. Suddenly, several Hylian soldiers ran up, garbed in their usual mail and helmets and armed with their usual spears. Link was about to ask them what was up when they shouted at him and pointed their spears in his direction.

"There he is! Get him!" one of them exclaimed.

"What? Hey!" Link dodged the foremost soldier's charging thrust. "What are you doing?"

"Get that devil!" the captain barked as the other soldiers charged.

"Yikes! I'm outta here!" the hero said, dodging the strikes and running off down the road. The soldiers were in hot pursuit. "I've heard of training drills, but this is ridiculous!" he quipped, dodging into an alley and sprinting past several garbage canisters, knocking them over as he went. Some of the soldiers tripped and slipped, but the rest bounded over the obstacle and kept going. "Uh, oh!" Link ducked a couple of chucked spears and then turned a corner, leaping off of the nearby walls to get to a rooftop. "Man! What did I do this time? Did I take Zelda's shampoo or something?" Another spear narrowly missed his arm and he decided to ponder this later, taking off along the roofs. He jumped a gap and sprinted along the next rooftop.

"What do you think you're doing?" the captain shouted. "Get him!" He ushered his troops to the roof. "You!" he pointed to one of them. "Go get backup!"

"Ahh!" Link slid to a stop as several soldiers jumped out from behind some chimney pots and other roof paraphernalia.

"Got ya!" one of them shouted. Link dodged his spear swipe and kicked him into his mates, making them collapse in a metal heap, and ran off as they were trying to right themselves. "Blast!" the guards shouted after him. A few spears soared over his head as several soldiers jumped over the edges of the roof and tried to hit him. He dodged with a few handsprings and kept running.

"Hurry up and fire!" a captain shouted ahead as his troops set up a cannon.

"Holy Goddesses!" Link exclaimed as the cannon fired with a boom. He quickly sprang off the side of the roof and ran along a street with the Pegasus Boots' trademark puffs of smoke coming from his heels. "These guys are crazy!" More soldiers were waiting up ahead behind a makeshift barricade. "Farore's Wind!" He fired a burst of air from his hand and scattered the troops backwards before bounding over the fortification and speeding away down the street as they tried to rally themselves.

"Get him!" several more squads joined in the chase around this point.

"Oh, man!" the hero whined, ducking down another alleyway.

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><p>Link finally collapsed behind a pillar in the center of town, panting and sweating. He had been giving the soldiers the runaround for a couple of hours, and he finally seemed to have lost them, or, at least, convinced them to take a break, too.<p>

"Why are those guys after me, anyway?" he muttered, gasping a bit. Suddenly, loud, clinking footsteps met his ears and a hard impact smashed into the pillar he was hiding behind with an almighty crash. He leapt away and saw a large, armored figure, swinging a hefty ball and chain over his head in continuous orbit. Link rolled to the side as the Elite Soldier threw the weapon again, smashing into the building behind him. "Oh, great…just my day…" The ball went flying back into the ES's hand with a quick jerk and he began swinging it again. Link drew his sword and shield. "Looks like I'll have to take him down," He jumped over the ball again and ran up to the large soldier, taking a swipe. The blade glanced off of his mail and the hero had to backflip out of the way as the ball came back again. Rolling to the side, again, as the ball came smashing down, fracturing the pavement, he aimed his sword. "Din's Fire!" A fireball shot out and exploded against his face, temporarily blinding him and causing him to drop his weapon as he clutched at his hot helmet in pain.

"Curse you!" the man's muffled voice came. Link dashed up and cut through his chest plate with a Jump Slice, also causing the ES to stagger backwards as the armor fell, with a heavy clunk, in two pieces, revealing the chain mail beneath. "Urgh!" he drew a weighty blade and took a swipe. Link deflected the blow with his shield, but was knocked back, arm throbbing, from the impact. Jumping away from another impacting blow, Link countered with a shield attack to the face and a Helm Splitter, performed just right to destroy the helmet but not hit the guy's head. Landing behind him, he used a jump attack to stagger him forwards. "Why you!" he spun with his heavy sword. Link ducked and jumped up, bashing the ES in the face with his shield. The man looked dazed and then fell backwards, landing with a loud thud.

"Whew!" Link wiped his forehead and put his sword and shield away as he backed up a few paces. "Glad that's over, now to make my heroic esca-Huh?" He shouted, seeing a sudden flash of blue light and a spurt of blood.

"Gah!" the ES shouted before going limp.

"What the Dark World!" Link grimaced. Atop the dead ES, holding the hilt of the two-handed sword that was plunged into the man's chest, was a man with lilac hair, topped with a droopy pointy hat. He bore a stark resemblance to Link, but his tunic was blood red with black mail underneath and black slacks. His gloves and boots were a light blue and his eyes were crimson. "You must be the reason that those soldiers were chasing me! Who are you, anyway?" The doppelganger sneered and held up a glowing, white jewel that was shaped in the likeness of the light emblem. "That's a Sacred Jewel!" Link shouted. "What are you doing with that?" He drew his sword and shield, charging at his double. "Say something, you fake hero!" He vanished in a blue flash before his blade could make contact, causing Link to have to stagger to regain his balance. The hero turned, looking around agitatedly, before spotting the doppelganger a couple of yards from him, blade in hand. _He's fast! _he looked at the glowing jewel and remembered the blue flashes. _No! He's using the Sacred Jewel and warping!_

"My name is Knil," the look-alike declared in his dangerously soft voice. "I am the world's ultimate being!" He charged forward, putting away the jewel, and took a powerful, two-handed, downward strike. Link blocked it, feeling his arm go numb from the force of it, and retaliated with a spin attack. Knil vanished with a blue flash and reappeared behind him.

"Wha?" Link spun as Knil raised his left hand and exuded a magenta aura.

"Anti-Energy Cannon!" he shouted. A beam of iridescent energy fired from his outstretched hand and tore through the air. Link rolled aside as it destroyed the pavement it passed over and tore through several buildings, leaving nothing behind but the wreckage of the rest of the structures as they collapsed.

"Holy…" Link scowled, face twitching a little with shock. "Blast you!" he turned to Knil. "What kind of monster are you?"

"Hmph," Knil fired a volley of energy blasts at Link as the hero charged forward. He deflected them with his Mirror Shield and took a series of swipes at his doppelganger. Knil deftly blocked them and kicked Link in the face with a roundhouse kick. The hero flipped and landed on his feet as several more energy balls came flying at him. They exploded in series as they struck around him, barely missing as he hopped skillfully from spot to spot.

"Din's Fire!" Link shot three fireballs at Knil, but he exuded a yellow aura and they exploded harmlessly against him. _What is he? _Link thought angrily. Knil raised his hand again and glowed magenta. Link braced himself for the attack, but Knil suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"It seems that the time for our little game has expired," he smiled malevolently. "Farewell," He vanished in a blue flash.

"Hey!" Link exclaimed, taken aback at the sudden departure. "Get back here, Fake!" What seemed like the whole Hylian Royal Army suddenly came surging into the area. "Uh, oh…"

"Surrender now!" the commander demanded. "If you don't come peacefully, we will resort to force!"

"Okay, okay…I know when I'm beat…" the hero sighed, dropping his sword, shield, and belt packs. Several soldiers charged in and tied his hands with tough cord, though with more force than necessary. "Ow! Watch it!"

"Quiet, you!" one barked, smacking him on the back of the head. "You're in no position to talk, murderer!" Link grimaced at the name.

"I hope I'll, at least, get a fair trial," he said, attempting a misplaced joke.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," another soldier growled. "My friend would be enraged if he thought that his killer might get off scot-free!" Link exhaled and decided not to try and set them straight. Who would listen to him, anyway?

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><p><strong>Monday, 13:21, Kakariko Village<strong>

"Magie!" Romani came rushing into Lucius's room at the Kakariko Inn, her red hair flying behind her, with a copy of the Hylian Newsletter in hand. The mage looked up from the book that he was reading, looking at the young woman, clad in her white and blue blouse, purple dress, and basic archer's shoulder plate and torso guard with a quiver and bow held on her back by the same leather bandolier that held the guards.

"What is it, Romani?" the blonde mage inquired, smoothing the front of his faded robes. He had red eyes and long, blonde hair that was bound with a piece of cloth. "Did the price of candy fall again?" He smiled slightly at his own joke.

"No, no! Look!" she shoved the newsletter in front of his face. He took it and examined the headline.

" 'Known Hero, Link, Arrested For Crimes Against The Kingdom And Wanton Burglary and Murder'…" he read aloud. "…killed 11 civilians and 23 Hylian soldiers…stole the white Sacred Jewel from the Hyrule Castle Town Museum of Natural Art…taken to the Desert Prison, a maximum security prison…"

"Grasshopper would never do any of that!" Romani insisted passionately. "We have to save him!"

"Romani," the mage replied, calmly setting the newsletter down on the table and looking at her. "Several eyewitnesses saw him do it, and-"

"That doesn't mean anything!" the woman snapped with watery eyes. "You can't just-"

"I don't believe that Link would do those things, either, but we cannot simply break him out of jail," he continued placidly.

"Why not?" a silver-haired Gerudo came through the door. "Can't see a problem with a good, old-fashioned jail break," He smiled in his cocky, self-assured way.

"Of course _you_ wouldn't, Zlon," Lucius looked at him, seeming quite unperturbed that the short-haired male Gerudo had been eavesdropping outside the door. "As doing illegal things doesn't perturb the average thief,"

"Hey! There's nothing average about _this_ thief!" the Gerudo replied, looking mock-hurt.

"A-HEM!" Romani interrupted. "We need to go rescue Grasshopper!"

"Well, I refuse to condone an illegal action," Lucius crossed his arms. "We need evidence that he is innocent and then we can petition for his release,"

"Too messy and time-consuming," Zlon objected with a distasteful expression. "How about this? Me and Romani will go sneak in and steal a key from the warden, and then we can let him out and escape,"

"How do you intend to do that?" the mage inquired with a quizzical tilt of the head.

"Uh…well, something will come up," Zlon answered assuredly.

"That is completely reckless," Lucius had to struggle not to hit his own forehead.

"Well, Romani's going for it," the rancher girl declared. "It's better than sitting here fighting!"

"That's the spirit!" Zlon agreed loudly, holding a fist up. "Let's go!" They nodded to each other and turned to leave.

"Wait," they turned as Lucius stood, taking his aged wooden staff in hand. "I'm coming too,"

"I thought that you didn't like illegal stuff?" Zlon teased with a smirk. The mage shrugged.

"I'd be worried about you, otherwise," he sighed. "Best keep you two where I can keep an eye on you," Romani giggled.

"Well, thanks for worrying about us," she said with a smile. The mage simply shook his head and lead them out, locking the door, and went down to the large rowboat that sat out front.

"All right, get in," he stepped aboard, sitting in the back seat, next to the tiller. The other two boarded and took the front. "Okay…liftoff!" the boat ascended into the air at a quick pace and shot off into the distance.

_Here we come, Grasshopper! _Romani thought, staring determinedly ahead, despite the stinging air rushing by.

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><p><strong>Monday, 07:22, Sacred Temple of the Triforce atop Mt. Power<strong>

It was a tall peak, situated in a remote corner of Hyrule, part of the Snowpeak mountain range, they called it Mount Power. Atop this lofty peak, wreathed in cloud, was a large, stone shrine. Several yards tall, it was, and the top was only reachable by a long set of stairs. Those who ascended could see the source of the golden glow at the apex. Of course, this man was not normal and had no need of stairs. He could fly, and landed, quite easily, at the top of the stairs, with a rustle of his robes. He had light gray hair, which hid his right, red, eye, and wore a dark blue, pointed hat, adorned at the crown with some gold and a red jewel, that drooped into his long locks. His tunic and pants was a light purple, bound with a gold belt with a clasp that looked oddly similar to his eyes, and his short pants were red. On his feet were intricate, red sandals that were held on with three interlaced straps. He rounded the whole ensemble off with a dark blue cape that was clasped with a round, golden brooch over his chest. He grinned in childish glee of a youth that had found a secret candy stash and wasn't going to share, as he gazed at the sacred relic in front of him. Three large, golden, spinning triangles that were floating together in midair.

"Ahh! Here it is! The Triforce!" he said with glee. "This relic is completely for someone like myself!" He stepped forward to claim his prize, but someone stepped in front of the brilliant radiance, holding a thin blade.

"Stop right there, yeah?" she warned. The woman, known as Ashei, had been the guardian of the Triforce for a while, and wasn't about to let this wind mage, with his constantly moving hair and cape, take the relic on her watch.

"Who are you?" Vaati demanded, taking in her greaves, metal shoes, red pants, metal lower torso armor, bulky metal armguards, metal gloves, quiver and bow on her back, black hair that fell down the sides of her face, and set, brown eyes.

"I'm Ashei, the guardian of the Triforce," she replied coolly. "Get out of here, if you know what's good for you, yeah?" Vaati chuckled.

"You won't stop Vaati from getting a treasure," he grinned evilly. "I'm the greatest thief and treasure hunter in the land!"

"Humph, yeah right," Ashei scoffed. With a childish giggle, the mage fired several energy balls at the guardian. She deflected them with her sword and charged, taking a swipe at him. Vaati flew backwards and threw a mini-tornado at her. She jumped back and pulled the bow off of her back, firing a fire arrow. The mage barely dodged it, but was caught in his right shoulder with an ice arrow.

"Ow!" he fell to the ground, barely righting himself in time to land on his feet, his shoulder covered in ice, and pulled out the arrow. Ashei was on him quickly, swinging at him with her sword. He whipped out he blade that he had hidden under his cape and deflected the blow before firing a burst of air into her stomach. She reeled through the air, righting herself at the base of the stairs.

"Not bad," she admitted, feeling a bit winded. Vaati grinned, but stopped when he looked up at the shrine.

"Hey!" he shouted. Ashei turned too and saw a greenish-skinned, red-haired man with a prominent nose, dressed in black armor, complete with a red cape and a yellow jewel on his forehead. He held the Triforce triumphantly above his head.

"This will work much better than the Sacred Jewels or, at the very least, will let me find them if my compass-" he began to monologue to himself.

"Ganondorf!" Ashei exclaimed angrily.

"So _that's_ Ganondorf…" Vaati added calmly, arms crossed.

"I'll be taking this, if you don't mind!" he barked, starting to fly off with the artifact.

"Not if I can help it!" Ashei declared, firing a light arrow. It missed Ganondorf and, instead, hit the Triforce. Several glowing white cracks appeared in it and twenty-four fragments went flying in all directions. Vaati let out a cry of dismay.

"Agh!" Ganondorf growled, looking around in vain for the missing pieces. "Well, no matter, I'll just go after the jewels like he said…" The Gerudo King flew off in bad temper. Ashei glared after him, but her attention soon shifted as Vaati seized her by the collar.

"Look what you did to my Triforce!" he yelled, shaking her. She forcefully slapped his hand away.

"It's not yours, yeah?" she retorted, turning away and crossing her arms. "Besides, if it's in pieces, I can restore it. Go home, yeah?" She took off down the mountain.

"Hmph…I'll do no such thing…" he grumbled. "All the world's treasures are mine to keep!" He flew off down the opposite side of the mountain.

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><p><strong>And so an epic begins! Chapter 2 is written already, so it should be up soon (if not immediately). R&amp;R!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**2 for 1! I own nothing!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: A Treasure Hunt and A Jailbreak<strong>

**Monday, 07:30, Mt. Power**

Ashei slid down the mountainside until she came to a misty landing. Looking around, she tried to feel for the familiar energy that the Triforce had given off in her presence for many a month.

_Blast that cursed mage! _She thought, annoyed. _I'd have seen Ganondorf coming a mile away if it hadn't been for him, yeah! _Her eyes suddenly flicked to a spot below, where she thought she felt something. _Hmm…could that be a piece? _She jumped off the landing and surfed down the mountainside, eventually coming to a pile of rocks on a lower landing. _Yes, I think that one might be here._ She aimed a bomb arrow, after retreating a bit, and blew the pile of rubble to pieces. A golden glow from the revealed hole indicated that she was correct in her assumptions. Walking over, she picked up the jagged, glowing fragment and put it in her belt pack. _I still feel more around here…_She looked around some more, uttering a sigh, and set off along the ledge. After some more sliding descent, she landed in the snowy fields at the bottom. _There!_ She headed over to a mound of snow, where she felt some Triforce energy. As she drew near, though, a large White Wolfos burst out with a howl. She grimaced and jumped back as it tried to slash her with its front claws. Pulling out her bow, she lodged several bomb arrows in the monster, blowing it to pieces and leaving a golden, glowing fragment in the bloody remains. Ashei retrieved the miraculously unmarred piece and stowed it away. Still sensing more pieces, she continued along the icy field, eventually coming to an area full of what looked like frozen geysers. As she passed them, looking around, she spotted a golden glow from inside one of them. Firing a fire arrow, she thawed the geyser and the force of its spout sent the piece flying a little ways before the flow froze again. After retrieving the third piece, Ashei looked up at the mountain that she had been lead to. _Great…there's some up there, too._ She mentally grumbled, approaching the wall, and grabbing hold of the rough rock.

A while later, she finally came to a landing and sat down for a break, breathing a bit more heavily than usual. _What a climb…_ she looked at the nearby mountainside. _Huh? I'm feeling a piece in there._ She stood reluctantly and fired a bomb arrow at the wall, opening a hole and releasing a golden glow. Grabbing the piece, she stowed it away. As she did so, though, she heard a rumbling. Looking up, she saw the snows above shifting and coming her way. _Oh, Goddesses, avalanche!_ She shot several fire arrows, managing to melt most of the snow, but now a tidal wave was coming her way. She quickly jumped off of the landing and surfed to the bottom. Once there, she started running. Fortunately, the water froze as it reached the bottom. "Whew…" she wiped her forehead. _I never thought I'd be so happy that it's too cold around here…_She shivered. _Speaking of which…_She pulled out her parka and donned it, not quite sure why she hadn't done this earlier. A golden gleam caught her attention from near the frozen wall of water. She jogged over to it. _Well, what do you know? The avalanche brought two pieces to me._ She smiled at the irony and put them away. _Feels like these are the last ones here._ She looked around again. _Guess it's time to go somewhere else._ With that, she headed off towards where she sensed a faint signal of more Triforce fragments.

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><p><strong>Tuesday, 06:36, Desert Prison and Vicinity<strong>

Lucius, Romani, and even Zlon, hadn't been able to see to get through the sandstorm of the previous day, and had had to hunker down in a cave. It was normal for sandstorms to blow up unannounced in the Gerudo Desert, but that didn't make them any less inconvenient.

"It seems to have died down," Zlon commented, pulling his head back into the cave. They had just had breakfast, courtesy of Lucius's preparedness, and were, now ready to head to the prison. Extraditing themselves from the partially blocked cave, scattering sand in the process, they stood in the morning sun.

"Well, what do you know, the Desert Prison wasn't far at all from here," Lucius pointed out the large stone structure. It was surrounded by tall walls, topped with razor wire, and guards normally paced atop them, as well as in the grounds. The structure, itself, was tall, with narrow windows for, presumably, the cells. The main entrance to the compound was a large, steel gate, but it was down in ruin, from what they could see.

"It looks like something happened over there," Romani pointed out, seeing the smoke rising from the area and hearing a distant explosion.

"I think you're right," Zlon agreed, kicking the nearby dirt in an attempt to find their boat. Lucius tapped his staff in the sand and the boat rose out, upside down, and turned over, stopping in front of them to allow boarding. Zlon looked a little embarrassed, but got on and the boat soared over to the prison quickly. They set down on top of the walls, noting the destruction of the area.

"We should try to stay low until we figure out what is going on," Lucius suggested as they disembarked. Heading down some nearby stairs, they found the courtyard in great disarray. Many soldiers were dead by burn marks or brutal indents that were, likely, made by superhuman punches.

"This is terrible…" Romani moaned, looking away.

"I'd say that this is the work of Ganondorf," Lucius commented as another explosion took place on the other side of the complex. "I'm going after him,"

"I'll go get the key and rescue Link," Zlon volunteered. "I'm the one with the skills,"

"Go ahead," the mage nodded. "Romani?" She looked at him. "What will you do?"

"I'll help you," she said determinedly. "I can't just let people die like this,"

"Okay, then! See ya!" Zlon took off into the complex, via the destroyed main door.

"Let's go!" Lucius ran off to where the fighting was still taking place.

"Yeah!" Romani sprinted after him.

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><p>The Gerudo sprinted down the corridor, passing several downed guards in the corridor, some with sword wounds and missing body parts, some with burns from magic, but, apparently, a few were still alive, as they came out of some of the side doors.<p>

"Stop!" they shouted, attacking with their spears. Zlon whipped out his scimitars and deftly batted the attacks aside, aiming kicks at their faces and taking them out with their impacts with the wall. Continuing down the corridor, he stopped briefly at a map. Seeing that the head warden's office was on the third level, he took off down the corridor to the left.

"Hey!" some guards shouted as a lift stopped to his right. They disembarked and attacked, but Zlon threw a smoke bomb in their faces. "Ahh!" they rubbed their eyes and looked around for the Gerudo, but he had already gotten on the lift.

"See ya, guys!" he taunted, pulling the rope quickly and ascending the lift.

"Blast!" they called after him. Zlon chuckled. However he quickly stopped, as raising the lift was taxing his strength. Hey, he was a speed fighter, not a power one.

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><p>"Ganondorf!" Lucius exclaimed as they found him laughing and firing energy balls periodically at a fortification that some guards were hiding behind. The dark sorcerer turned to face them.<p>

"Ah! Are you here to save green boy?" he mocked, floating in midair.

"That's none of your business!" Romani snapped. "Why are you hurting people like this?"

"That's none of _your_ business," he smirked evilly. "But you won't be here much longer, regardless of our reasons!" He fired a series of energy balls at the duo. They each dodged to a side. Romani released a volley of arrows while Lucius fired a light bolt. The Gerudo King blocked the arrows with his Cape Shield and flew backwards to avoid the light bolt.

"Din's Flare!" he shot a fireball at Lucius.

"Shield!" the mage projected a spherical barrier just as he was engulfed in a giant, fiery explosion. Ganondorf laughed derisively until a light arrow caught him in the side.

"Agggggh!" he roared as light crackled all over his body. Romani aimed a second light arrow, but he burst out of his shock with a grunt and flew up to avoid it, allowing it to burst against the wall of the courtyard.

"Divine Lightning!" Lucius cried out, emerging from the cloud of dust as Ganondorf began to descend, wreathed in purple flames, foot extended.

"Blast!" he barely dodged the spell as he canceled his Warlock Dive, but half of his cape went flying in slivers. A large explosion blinded them, briefly, as the bolt struck the ground.

"Urgh…" he grunted. "Curse you two…" He raised his hand and gathered dark energy into a ball. Lucius prepared himself while Romani aimed another Light Arrow. "Black Hole!" He hurtled the attack at them as the arrow was fired.

* * *

><p>Zlon finally arrived at the third level and put the lock on the lift's pulley. Panting, he disembarked and looked down the corridor to his right and left.<p>

"Let's see…" he thought back to the map. "That way!" He set off at a slower pace while he caught his breath. By the time he did, he was close to his destination and several guards spotted him as they guarded the office.

"You, stop!" one shouted. He threw a smoke bomb at them and quickly knocked them out. Entering the office, he found the warden absent, but his keys were still hanging on their hooks at the back of the room. Grabbing the one with the 'Master' tag, he turned to peruse the map on the wall to his right.

"Link…Link…" he looked over the labels. "Aha! There!" he pointed to the marked box. "Maximum Confinement, 3rd level," He took off out the office door, coming to the secured door of thick steel, quickly enough. He placed the master key in the keyhole under the big, red letters that read 'Maximum Confinement', and the door opened easily.

"You're not allowed in here!" an Elite Guard shouted. His four mates, regular guards, came at Zlon. He easily flipped over their attacks and KO'd them. The Elite Guard growled and hurled his ball and chain at the Gerudo thief. He dodged it and threw a smoke bomb at his face. He coughed on the smoke as Zlon jumped deftly behind him and punted him in the back, forcing him to fall down. Stuck like a turtle, all he could do was curse as Zlon continued down the row.

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><p>Link was agitatedly pacing in his cell, but paused when he heard a scuffle down the hall.<p>

"Who could that be?" he muttered.

"Heya, Link!" Zlon came into view.

"Zlon?" his eyebrows raised. "What are you doing here?"

"What? No thank you?" the thief mock-pouted. "And I went to all the trouble to do this, _by myself_, while Romani and Lucius have all the fun with Ganondorf!"

"Ganondorf's here?" Link demanded as Zlon unlocked the cell door.

"Yep," the Gerudo replied. "But he can't have done all the damage I've seen in the complex,"

"I'll bet it was that double of me!" Link exclaimed.

"Double?" Zlon repeated blankly. "I didn't see one…"

"I'll find him!" Link started down the hall, ignoring the stuck ES. "You go tell the others,"

"Right…" Zlon said as the hero retrieved his gear from the head warden's office. "You're welcome…" he added as the green hero took off.

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><p>The arrow pierced the ball of energy and struck Ganondorf. He screamed in agony, light jumping all over his body, as Lucius fired another bolt of light at him. Breaking out in time, he dodged.<p>

"Ugh…I'm done here!" he took off over the walls.

"Coward!" Romani called after him.

"Let's go and see how Zlon is faring," Lucius suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Fine…" she relented, allowing herself to be led to the main entrance. As they arrived, Zlon came running to meet them.

"I freed Link," he reported. "But he seemed to think that there was a doppelganger of him around here,"

"A Doppelganger?" Lucius repeated, eyebrows raised a bit.

"I've seen the inside, and I think that Ganondorf has accomplices," Zlon continued. "We should check, regardless of who it is," He turned and led them inside.

* * *

><p>Link dashed down the stairs and onto the second floor. The search of the third one hadn't revealed a thing, so, maybe, something was here. Sure enough, he saw Knil at a major support pillar, at the innermost part of the floor.<p>

"I found you, Fake!" he declared, pointing dramatically. Knil turned, scowling.

"Fake? I think that you're the Fake around here!" he scoffed, drawing his sword.

"Heh, I'll make you eat those words," Link drew his sword and shield.

"I won't play games this time," Knil warned. "You won't even get a chance," He fired a volley of energy balls. Link dodged the explosions and countered with several fireballs. Knil ran forward, dodging, and took a swing at Link. He jumped over the swing and kicked him in the face, causing him to stagger, and took a downward swing. Knil dodged out of the way and jumped backwards. "Anti-Energy Cannon!" An iridescent beam tore through the room, blowing out part of the entire level. Link countered by ambushing him while the beam was firing. The doppelganger turned to the side, only suffering damage to his sleeve, and kicked Link in the side of the head. Catching himself quickly with a handspring, the hero regained his feet in time to block a hard sword blow. The blade and shield bounced away from each other, giving both an opening. Energy blasts and fireballs struck each other with colorful explosions as the two took a few simultaneous swipes at each other, sending sparks flying as the blades rang from the impact. Flipping backwards, Knil fired more energy blasts at Link. He rolled around them and Back Sliced at Knil. He disappeared in a flash of blue light and reappeared a couple of yards away. Both breathed a little heavier, but they still had plenty of energy left.

"Knil! What are you doing?" Ganondorf's voice scolded from a glowing stone that hung from the alter ego's belt by a leather cord. "This place is about to blow up with you in it!"

"Blow up?" Link repeated. Knil grimaced and put his sword away. Wordlessly, he dashed out through the hole that his A-E Cannon had made. Link sprinted for the stairs and made it to the first floor in little time.

"Link!" Romani called, running ahead of Lucius and Zlon, as they spotted him. "I'm so glad to see you! Did you-"

"No time!" the hero interrupted. "I was just fighting Knil and Ganondorf told him that his place is about to blow up!"

"Let's get outta here, then!" Zlon exclaimed, running for the exit.

"What about the soldiers?" Romani asked, with a frown.

"The few that are left will have to escape of their own accord," Lucius said gravely. "Come!" he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out with Link bringing up the rear. Once outside, he tapped his staff on the sandy ground. His boat came flying down, Zlon aboard, and stopped in front of them.

"Come on! I don't want to die!" Zlon whined. "There's still too much I haven't stolen!"

"Suck it up!" Link retorted, not in a good mood at the moment. The boat rocketed upwards as Lucius grabbed the tiller and they were, soon, soaring away. The other three turned as a series of explosions rocked the prison, blowing out large chunks, and then a large cloud of dust was thrown up as the rest of it collapsed. They turned slowly back to the front, grim.

"Ganondorf…" Link looked at his clenched fist. "You'll pay for this,"

* * *

><p><strong>Poor shallow Zlon. He's a good guy, but doesn't take things seriously. Will Ganondorf be gotten for his foul deed? Will he attempt more? What is his plan? Well, you won't find out until the next chapter! :) R&amp;R<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter ended up being sorta Ashei-centric, but that's what happens when you take the SA2 plot and cut out the driving level and the Tails level before it and only leave in the references to the two Knuckles levels in the segment. I own nothing!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: More Triforce Shards and Doom's Approach<strong>

**Tuesday, 07:44, Forsaken Fortress**

A fortress, long abandoned in the mountains betwixt the Snowpeak range and the Gerudo Desert. Legend had it that it was once a hiding place for the Sheikah, but it was now abandoned, covered in perpetual night, earning it the name Forsaken Fortress. It was here, now, that Ashei stood. A few yards from the ruined wooden gates, she gazed up at the ancient stone structure and its surrounding walls. Oddly enough, there were still lights in the windows and there were four large searchlights on the turrets in the surrounding walls.

"This place sure seems haunted…" she muttered, fighting off an involuntary shudder. _Well, there are some fragments of the Triforce here, so I'd better steel myself._ She started towards the gates, sword at the ready. She jumped back, suddenly, as a Big Poe jumped out of a nearby rock. It cackled and threw a few fireballs at her. Jumping back, she switched to her bow and pelted the ghost with a light arrow. It screamed, light shining from the holes in its tattered robes, and vanished. Its lantern fell to the ground and shattered, allowing the flame within to dissipate. "Hmph," Continuing inside, she looked around the courtyard. It was ruined, the flagstone underfoot was chipped or torn away, in spots. Proceeding cautiously forward, Ashei heard unearthly moans coming from in the building. Shaking off the fear, she headed over to a fallen pillar. _There's something under this._ She rolled the shaft of stone over with her foot, revealing a golden glow. _That's one._ She picked up the jagged fragment of the Triforce and stowed it away. Suddenly, though, she heard a terrible scream behind her. Her body seized up from the cry, allowing whatever it was to drag more slowly towards her with sliding noises of flesh and metal. _Blast, a ReDead!_ She struggled to break free of the paralysis, finally managing it as the zombie tried to swing its large cleaver at her. Dodging, she hit it in the face with a light arrow. The monster screeched and fell down, light crackling all over its body, and died, vanishing in a second. "Whew…" she exhaled. _Now, where are the other two._ Glancing at the building, she grimaced as she felt the pieces in there. _Great…I hate this job sometimes…_She ran over to the decrepit wooden doors that blocked the main entrance and pushed them back easily enough. Once inside, she found the braziers mysteriously lit. _Odd. I thought that the undead hated light._ Several Poes suddenly sprang out of nowhere as she pondered and stole the lights from the braziers, plunging the room into darkness. The ghosts cackled and two of them charged at her, lanterns spinning, as the third let loose a salvo of fireballs. Ashei dodged and cut the two with her sword as they passed by, but they seemed to be hurt very little by the hits and simply flew back, cackling mockingly. They were cut off as Ashei pelted one of them with a light arrow. Their eyes widened at the death of one of them by the sacred light and they started to flee. She pelted another one, but the third got away through a wall. "Hmph," she continued down the dark hall, lit only by a single brazier a bit in. Heading though the door at the end, she came out on the wall. _Huh?_ She saw a golden glow to her right. Turning her head, she saw a piece balanced on a rock spire that stuck out of the wall. _Ugh…_she thought, annoyed, as she carefully edged out to it. She grabbed it and put it away, but a Poe suddenly jumped out and cackled at her. She flailed her arms and fell, but managed to grab the edge. The Poe cackled again and tried to ram her, but she pulled herself up with a crack. The crack was the spire breaking in half. Acting swiftly, she dodged another attack as she jumped off of the falling half and onto the other part. Jumping again, she landed safely on the wall again and shot the Poe with a light arrow. "Take that, yeah?" she grunted. _Now where is that last one?_ She heard a lot of cackling down in the courtyard. _Now what?_ She headed over to the inner edge of the wall and saw a couple dozen Poes frolicking around a weird-looking mask that was floating in the center of them. _That can't be good._ she thought as they all jumped into the mask and it formed a portly, ghostly body, floated up in the air, and brandished a large lantern. It laughed at her and brandished a golden piece of Triforce at her. "Hey! That's mine!" she shouted, vaulting the wall and landing with a stinging impact. _Maybe that wasn't the best idea…_she winced, but quickly got over it and aimed a light arrow. "Hand that over and I won't have to purify your butt, yeah?" Jallhalla cackled and made a challenging gesture. She fired the light arrow and struck the ghost. It fell and split into several Poes. They swooped around, some attacking, some shooting fireballs. Ashei dodged their attacks by rolling, flipping, and rebuking with her sword before hitting five of the Poes with light arrows. They freaked out and ran back into the mask, which they had managed to hide with their sheer numbers. Jalhalla grew to size again and fired a salvo of fireballs, which Ashei leapt away from, aiming another light arrow. Jalhalla puffed up and released a breath, forcing her to start sliding back. She fired, anyway, and the arrow went into the giant ghost's mouth, causing it to explode in a chain of light explosions. "Why didn't I think of that earlier?" She walked forward and retrieved the Triforce shard from the spot where it had fallen. _I don't sense any more here. Guess I'd better move on. _She started for the exit, passing by an open grate in the floor. A last wayward Poe decided to play one last bit of mischief and jumped out with a cackle, causing Ashei to jump away and fall down the hole. "Curse you!" she yelled before she landed in a fast-moving current with a splash. She spat out some water as she surfaced. _Oh, this can't be good…_she thought as the waves tossed her about and pulled her swiftly away.

**Tuesday, 08:26, Hyrule Castle Waterways**

Ashei finally washed up on a stone path that lined the water as its flow slowed a little. Sputtering and soaked, she scrambled the rest of the way onto shore and stood, arms crossed and shivering a little. _Where in the Dark World am I, yeah?_ she thought grumpily, examining the area._ If I had to bet, I'd say that I got washed all the way down to the waterways under Castle Town._ The signal of Triforce shards came to her attention. _Well, I guess that blasted Poe's prank worked to my advantage._ She sneezed. _I'd better find them quick, though, I'm getting sick._ She strode down the path, looking down the grating-covered holes in the walls. A couple of rats would jump out of the open ones, once in a while, but she put them to sword before they could do too much. As it happened, one of them happened to be carrying a piece of the Triforce in its greedy little hands. "I'll be taking that," she said, plucking the fragment from the dead rat's hands and putting it away. Coming to a dead end, she hopped across to the other side of the water flow and headed along the path, killing a few more rats, and, at length, came to a ladder that led up to a ledge. Climbing it, she came to some stone stairs that wound upwards, with a pool of water at the bottom. As she came to it, she saw a golden glow coming from underneath the water. _Oh, no…_she crouched and saw the piece at the bottom of the shallow basin. _Now I have to get more wet…urgh…_She sneezed again and then jumped in, diving quickly down to grab the piece. She surfaced, climbed back onto land, and pocketed the piece, shaking her wet hair out of her face and sneezing again. _I'm gonna end up with pneumonia, at this rate._

Continuing up the stone stairs, occasionally kicking a few rats off the edge, and sneezing periodically, finally found the last piece at the top, on a circular landing with a ladder in the middle. True, it was guarded by a Deku Toad, but she quickly stuck its belly with an arrow and took the fragment. _That's all of them._ "Achoo!" she wiped her nose. _Up the ladder with me. I need a warm bath and some soup._ She grabbed the rungs and hefted herself up, bit by bit, finally coming to a circular, steel cover over a hole. Pushing it out of the way with one hand, she climbed out into the bright daylight. It stung her eyes after so long in the dark, but, as her eyes adjusted, Ashei saw that she was in the courtyard of Hyrule Castle. _That's convenient. Guess I'll go tell Princess Zelda about the Triforce._ She began to trudge over to find an entrance or a guard that could help her. She sneezed again. _Maybe she has some soup._

**Tuesday, 09:30, Lon Lon Ranch**

"So Ganondorf has a doppelganger of you and is using him to perform his nefarious deeds," Zlon nodded to himself.

"And all those crimes were committed by him, not me," Link added. "We have to do something before my reputation is ruined!"

"That's not what concerns me the most," Lucius interjected pensively. "Just what is Ganondorf up to? It's not like him to commit wanton destruction. If he is doing all of this, he must have a grand scheme,"

"Well, the fake Grasshopper stole a Sacred Jewel from the museum in town," Romani mentioned. "Maybe-"

"That's it!" Lucius stood up. "The Desert Prison was also holding two of the Sacred Jewels!"

"So Ganondork is after the Sacred Jewels again. That's not new," Link shrugged, leaning back and propping his feet on the table.

"I wonder what he wants them for?" Lucius pondered, sitting back down. "He's not like Zlon, who would just want them on account of their being jewels,"

"Hey!" Zlon pretended to be hurt and put a hand to his heart. "That's not a nice thing to say!" A loud, booming voice suddenly rocked the house.

"People of Hyrule! It is I, Ganondorf! Your soon-to-be ruler!" the familiar voice shouted smugly.

"I know that voice…" Link groaned, rolling his eyes and standing. They ran outside as the voice continued, standing next to Talon, Ingo, and Malon as they looked up at the sky.

"My associates and I have commandeered the Palace of the Winds and its lovely accessory, the Doom Cannon!" Ganondorf announced. "It has the power to annihilate Hyrule, once equipped with all eight Sacred Jewels of the world, so I recommend that King Hyrule and his lovely daughter, Princess Zelda, surrender the country to me, promptly! Otherwise, there may be terrible consequences!" A massive, iridescent laser suddenly fired across the sky, striking one of the mountains near Death Mountain and reducing the sister mountain of the famous mountain to rubble in a massive explosion that could be heard all around the country. "You have five hours until the doom of Hyrule!" He sank into a fit of evil laughter and then his voice faded away.

"Curse that Ganondorf!" Lucius hissed, gripping his staff tightly.

"We have to go see Zelda!" Link urged, heading quickly for the gate.

"Wait!" Zlon called.

"What?" Link replied impatiently.

"You're still a fugitive," Lucius explained.

"But he's innocent!" Romani protested.

"Be that as it may, the Royal Family has not revoked his criminal status, not to mention that he is an escaped convict, if he is found alive," the mage revealed flatly. "We'll need to enter with subtlety if we're going to the castle. Once in front of the monarchs, we can explain the situation,"

"I don't know…" Zlon said uncertainly. "The King isn't exactly the most forgiving guy and won't just listen to an assumed criminal. Especially one he liked beforehand," He shrugged with a wan smile. "Betrayal breeds worse hatred than anything,"

"Zelda will hear us out," Link affirmed. "Come on!"

"All right…" Lucius sighed, tapping the ground with his staff. His boat quickly arrived.

"Be careful," Malon said to Romani.

"Don't worry! We'll be fine!" the other red-head assured her cousin. The party boarded the boat and it shot off for the castle.

"I'll have to take it in low and slow," the mage warned the others as they flew. "We'll land on the roof and try to sneak in that way,"

"Right," Link nodded. "But let's try not to hurt any guards that find us,"

**Tuesday, 4 hours and 5 minutes Remaining, Hyrule Castle Throne Room**

"Ow!" Link was kicked in the back and he fell to the red carpet of the throne room. "What was that for?" The proposed infiltration hadn't gone well and, now, they were all bound and under arrest. Zlon, naturally, was taking this the worst.

_I hope that they don't remember all the other crimes I committed!_ he thought, distressed, as the king, garbed in red and sporting a bushy, white beard and mustache, as well as a golden semi-circlet, stood.

"Link, you have been convicted of several crimes against Hyrule and her people," he said grimly. "Yet you dare to come here, today, after escaping the prison with the help of the fiend, Ganondorf, and killing all of the guards there,"

"But, your Majesty-" he began.

"Silence!" the king interrupted. "I am most disappointed in your companions, as well. Still abetting you, even as a criminal. Have any of you no shame?"

"Sir, if I may-" Lucius tried, but was cut off again.

"Still your mouth!" the king snapped. "All of you are guilty of crimes so great that I have no choice but to-"

"Father!" Zelda shouted, entering through a side door. "Is it not custom in Hyrule to give fair trial?"

"Zelda, you are too trusting!" the king shook his head. "Many eyewitnesses saw Link commit these crimes!"

"I think that you should let him explain," the princess said mildly. "If he is truly guilty, I won't say another word against his sentence," King Hyrule grunted and seated himself in his throne. Zelda sat down next to him.

"All right, boy, tell us your story," he said grudgingly.

"A doppelganger? That is hard to swallow," the king replied, after the long tale, told by each in turn.

"Although, that would explain how Link could be in two places at once," Zelda interjected.

"What?" the king looked at her.

"According to these reports from the military," she held up two sheets of parchment. "They were pursuing Link at two locations, simultaneously," The king took the reports and read over them in tense silence.

"I see…" he handed them back, finally. "Well, that supports the story of the day of the robbery, but what of the incident at the prison? There is no word but theirs on it, for all witnesses are dead,"

"Well, you could ask Ganondorf, but I doubt that he'll want to talk about it right now," Lucius commented dryly.

"Look, we don't have time for this," Link said brusquely. "I don't care if you trust me or not, but Hyrule is dust in about four hours, if we don't stop Ganondorf!"

"Yeah, it's 'cause of him that I broke the Triforce and had to go all over loo-A-Achoo!" a female voice cut in, ending in a sneeze. They all looked to see none other than Ashei.

"Ashei?" the King looked surprised. "The Triforce is broken?"

"Yes, your Majesty," she sniffed, looking very sick. "I've found most of the pieces, though, so it shouldn't be too much longer,"

"Hmm…" the king furrowed his brow. "Very well. Guards, release them,"

"Sire?" the Royal Guard Captain said, surprised.

"I believe them," the king said as the bonds were cut. "Link, Lucius, Ashei, save my kingdom,"

"We'll do our best, sir!" Link gave a salute.

"Not to be rude, but do you have any soup?" Ashei added in. "I'm freezing here, yeah?"

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><p><strong>Some mild humor at the end there. Quite the chapter. Horror (ha!), Drama, and whatnot all crammed together. R&amp;R!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**The chapter where we finally get to directly fight the bad guys! Woo! I own nothing!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Ascension to the Heavens<strong>

**Tuesday, 2 hours and 29 minutes Remaining, Ganondorf's Secret Desert Base Vicinity**

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Hylian Royal Army said that that building over there is Ganondorf's base," Lucius pointed to a large, partially-submerged building that sat in the shifting sands of the Gerudo Desert. It was made of stone and had a large, stone door over the entrance. "He hasn't been seen there for a day or so, but we might get some clues there,"

"You're the boss," Link said flippantly. "But I think we won't just be able to march up there,"

"Yeah, he's got Gerudo guarding the place," Zlon added with a frown, squinting at the pacing guards. "Stupid traitors…wait a minute…Those Gerudo have dark blue skin and green hair!"

"Likely mockeries that he created, much like Knil, I assume," Lucius responded.

"I think that there are some traps down there, too," Romani pointed at some partially-submerged spikes that were visible. "We need to be careful,"

"Leave the traps to me!" Zlon said confidently. "Ganondorf is a Gerudo, so he's likely to use Gerudo traps,"

"Hmph, are we even going in there today, or are you going to keep chatting, yeah?" Ashei grumbled.

"Okay, team! Let's move out!" Link jumped down the sand bank and surfed to the bottom.

"Hey! There could be poison needles down there!" Zlon called, following.

"Yet another mission where Link doesn't abide by common sense and caution," Lucius sighed, shrugging.

The group all surfed to the bottom, narrowly avoiding a set of spikes that were pointing in their direction.

"Told ya!" Zlon taunted as Lucius cured the poisoned cut on Link's arm.

"Shut up…" Link grumbled as the cut was purified and closed.

"Hey!" a female voice called, followed by a whistle being blown. "Stop right there!" No less than eight Imitation Gerudo were racing at them with their spears in attack stance. Ashei took down half of them with a volley of arrows while Zlon gracefully leapt over a spear thrust and cut another down. Romani hit another as Lucius cast a fireball at the rest, incinerating them in a fiery explosion. This, naturally, drew the attention of every guard in the area.

"That may not have been the best plan, yeah?" Ashei reprimanded.

"C'mon! Let's move!" Link called, taking off through the area.

"Wait up!" Zlon called, dashing after him.

"Come on!" Lucius ushered the others forward as more AG closed in. Several poisoned spikes sprang up from the sands as the group went, but they managed to jump around them and engage the wayward enemies. Link batted a spear aside and gracefully cut through a foe as Romani sniped one that tried to hurl a spear at his back. "Din's Flare!" Several foes were engulfed in flame as they tried to flank the mage. Zlon flipped aside with Gerudo agility as a large, tilting pillar, one of many in the area, toppled and smashed into the ground. A few of his foes weren't so lucky and were crushed. Ashei rolled and flipped around the foes, cutting them down consecutively. Zlon took this as a challenge and started showing off his own acrobatics. "Go!" Lucius shouted, prompting the group to take off towards the looming base once more. Several standing pillars came toppling, courtesy of AG pushing. A few more sets of poisoned spikes came springing out of the sand, but were avoided. Ashei shot a few of the pillars ahead to neutralize them and, hopefully, take down the AG that were planning on pushing them.

Finally, they came to the front door, guarded by the rest of the AG. They readied their weapons for battle.

"We don't have time for this," Lucius muttered. "Divine Lightning!" The lightning of judgment crashed down and blew the dozens of foes away in a purifying light. He lowered his staff casually and approached the door. It was large, bearing the Gerudo emblem on it, but the emblem seemed to be flashing.

"Is it locked?" Romani asked.

"If by that you mean sealed," Lucius replied. "Stand back," The others retreated to a safe distance. He gave a word of command in an archaic tongue and struck the door. The glow of the emblem seemed to shatter and then it faded. The door slid open with a loud grinding noise, allowing them to see the gloom within.

"Looks haunted," Ashei commented. "And I've had enough ghosts for a while, yeah?"

"I don't like them, period," Zlon added. "Perhaps I'll just slip off and…"

"Oh, no you don't," Link grabbed his arm.

"Crud…" he grumbled.

* * *

><p>"Achoo!" Romani wiped her nose. "It's sure dusty in here,"<p>

"It likely hasn't seen use during Ganondorf's stay," Lucius commented, holding his glowing staff aloft to illuminate the chamber better.

"Well, if we're gonna find Ganondork, we'd better find the rooms he _has_ been using," Link added. "Come on,"

"I'm not one to pass up looking for treasure in an old crypt, but…" Zlon muttered.

"Hmph…what a wuss," Ashei scoffed.

"It's called being cautious!" Zlon protested. They continued into the next room, where there was a crossroads of a sort. To the left was a door and to the right was a door.

"I don't know about you, but I don't know which way to go," Link commented.

"Hmm…" Lucius looked between the doors and then at the wall directly in front of them.

"I know what you're thinking," Zlon interjected, looking at the wall too. "That wall probably has a secret passage behind it,"

"Yes, but…" Lucius looked at the four braziers next to the wall. "Do you think that those have something to do with it?" He gestured to them.

"Don't tell me this is another puzzle where we'll have to kill Poes to proceed," Link noted, expecting a negative response.

"Well, if we don't, they'll just steal the flames again," Romani pointed out.

"Ugh…" Link and Zlon both said simultaneously.

"Guys," Ashei interrupted brusquely. "I'm gonna have to leave, for a while,"

"What? Are you scared, too?" Link teased. She smacked him upside the head. "Ow…" He rubbed the spot with a pained grimace.

"No, I sense pieces of the Triforce," she headed over to the door on the left.

"We'll go right, then," Lucius concluded. "The Poes wouldn't be over there, not if I know Ganondorf. He always stores treasures apart from one another,"

"I'll see you later, then," Ashei pushed the stone door aside and disappeared into it.

* * *

><p>The door led to a dimly lit stone corridor, which was crisscrossed by several other corridors. AG were pacing through periodically.<p>

_Looks like the Artificial Gerudo have the pieces. Oh, well._ She shrugged inwardly, and drew her bow and sniped the nearest one. She collapsed with a cry. Ashei quickly ran down to the intersection and hid in one of the other halls as a couple of other guards came over to investigate. Jumping out with her sword, she quickly dealt with these two as well. _So far so good. Now I just need to explore these other paths…_Hurrying up and down the corridor, she checked both small rooms at the end. They had treasures, but no Triforce shards. Heading back to the main corridor, she started for the next intersection, sniping the guard ahead as she crossed the hall. Three AG appeared immediately from the side corridor ahead and threw spears at her. Jumping back, Ashei fired a volley of arrows and took them down as pincushions. Hurrying to their bodies, she checked the treasure rooms on this path. She knew that one was here as she entered the latter room and saw a golden glow. Scooping up the piece, she stowed it away and went back to the main hall. Several more spears flew at her, forcing her to duck back into the hall. Jumping out, she shot the foe in the middle with a bomb arrow, taking down the others nearby, and then she ran to the stone door at the end. Inside was a large treasury full of all kinds of treasure. _Zlon would love to see this._ Ashei thought wryly, looking around for the golden glow of her quarry.

"So you have the nerve to come and steal the Great Ganondorf's treasure, huh?" An AG swordsman jumped down from above.

"The Triforce is mine to guard!" Ashei brandished her sword. "Hand it over or I'll pound you!" The AG Swordsman laughed and drew her scimitars.

"Just try it!" she mocked. Ashei thrust at her, but she flipped aside and countered with a spinning jump attack. Ashei's blade barely deflected the hit and she jumped back to avoid staggering. The AG Swordsman pressed the advantage, slashing aggressively with her twin blades. Ashei ducked them, rolling, and made a cut along her torso, even as she jumped away. "Agh! Curse you!" she shrieked, throwing a smoke bomb. Ashei flipped backwards and pelted her foe with a bomb arrow. She screamed and there was a clattering sound. The irritant dust cleared to show that one of her arms had been nearly blown off, forcing her to drop a weapon. She screamed again and charged, slashing and jumping with her remaining blade. Ashei blocked it with her sword and kicked the AG in the stomach, forced the sword aside, stood on it, and cut the AG down with a cry. Her limp body disintegrated into black mist, leaving the two Triforce shards behind.

"Ugh…what a way to get them back," Ashei muttered distastefully.

* * *

><p>"Watch out, there's a lot of quicksand in here," Lucius warned as they entered the room. True, this part of the building looked like it had aged more than the previous room, which was only missing a few tiles. This chamber was almost half quicksand, leaving only a few spots of safe floor to walk on.<p>

"Hey! Where's Zlon?" Link exclaimed, suddenly noticing his absence.

"He's run off!" Romani said angrily.

"Oh, forget him. He can come and go as he likes," Lucius shrugged. "Bluntly, he probably wouldn't be able to handle a group of Poes. Swords and smoke bombs are not effective against them,"

"Fine, let's just go," Link agreed crisply, jumping out to one of the platforms. Once across, they proceeded into the next room, where many Poes were flying around a mask. "I've seen this before…" Link muttered.

"Jalhalla," Lucius affirmed as the Poes spotted them and flew into the mask. It formed into a large, portly ghost that took up most of the large room. "Be careful of the spikes," He gestured to the spikes the protruded from the walls around the room's perimeter. Jalhalla started out with a volley of fireballs. Lucius blocked them while Link and Romani ran around the ghost in a loop to avoid them. Romani pelted him with a light arrow, causing it to split into Poes again. Link sliced through several of them with a Hurricane Spin, causing them to explode in a flash of light. "Lightning!" Lucius hit a few more with bolts of light, but the others jumped back into the mask and Jalhalla blew a mighty breath at Romani, causing her to have to run with all her might to keep away from the spikes.

"Din's Fire!" Link's fireball struck the ghost in the back and distracted it long enough for Romani to pelt it with another light arrow as it turned. Separated again, the Poes panicked and charged around the room, lanterns spinning.

"Divine Lightning!" Lucius summoned the lightning of judgment and it struck the rest of the Poes down, as well as the mask. It exploded in a flash of light sparks and sent four flames flying through the wall.

"That should do it," Romani panted.

"You okay?" Link asked, eyebrows raised a little.

"Yeah. Thanks for asking, Grasshopper," she giggled.

"Save the flirting for later," Lucius rolled his eyes with a slight smirk. They both blushed.

"We're not flirting!" Link protested.

* * *

><p>The wall was gone when Link, Romani, Lucius, and Ashei returned to the main room.<p>

"Good job with that," Ashei complimented bluntly. "I've got the shards, so I'll come with,"

"Ganondork, just you wait," Link smiled mischievously to himself. They proceeded through the open passage and came to another large room. It lacked no floor and seemed to be some sort of nest, judging by the bits of twig and monster remains littered about.

"What is this? Some kind of giant bird nest?" Romani wondered aloud.

"Precisely!" a loud, mocking voice called out as a stone door opened at the far end of the room. "This is a nest for my lovely pet, who hates unannounced visitors!" He laughed evilly. "Now I will take the blue jewel, as well as your lives!" He blew a whistle. "Come, Helmaroc King!" A giant bird, black with golden plumage and a large, ornamental mask on its face came swooping down, nearly knocking them over with the gust its wings blew up. "Kill them!" Ganondorf shouted. The bird shrieked and dove at them, trying to slash them with its talons. The group jumped out of the way and split up. Romani and Ashei fired volleys of arrows at it, but only annoyed it and caused it to fire pointed feathers from its wings. They dodged behind pillars to avoid the storm of pointed projectiles.

"Farore's Storm!" A large tornado engulfed the bird, spinning and cutting it. It flapped lower, shaking its head to try and orient itself, but Link sprang off of a pillar, Megaton Hammer in hand.

"Bonzai!" he shouted, smashing the heavy hammer onto the mask. It shattered and flew off in all directions. The bird screeched and slapped Link away with its wing. Ashei and Romani each aimed a shot at the comb on its forehead and earned a pained screech.

"Lightning!" Lucius hit it in the head again with a bolt of light. The bird screeched and smashed headfirst into a wall, landing in a heap. It twitched for a while and then stood up on its feet, swaying a bit. It looked around confusedly and spotted Ganondorf. It screeched and pecked at him. He flew up in the air.

"No, you stupid bird! Attack them, not me!" It fired a series of pointed feathers at him. He dodged and deflected them. "Blasted useless monster! Can't even take a few hits to the head without losing your mind!" He swooped down and decked it upside the beak with a Warlock Punch, sending it smashing into the floor, head over heels.

"Now would be a good time to sneak in," Link suggested as the group rendezvoused away from the battle. "While he's busy,"

"Right, let's go," Lucius agreed. They snuck quickly over to the door that Ganondorf had come out of, pausing only briefly to laugh as Ganondorf got slapped through a pillar and burst out with a cry of rage and an explosion.

* * *

><p>A broad corridor was beyond the door, leading to three doors.<p>

"Study, Bedroom, Control Room," Lucius read the signs.

"Let's go to the Control Room," Romani suggested. So they headed through the middle door. Inside was a polished panel of stone. An image was projected above its myriad of flashing switches.

"This looks like a picture of somewhere, yeah?" Ashei observed. "But where?"

"Palace of the Winds," Link read at the top of the rectangular image. "This must let him see what's going on there,"

"And this must let him visit," Lucius concluded, pointing at a nearby circular glyph pedestal. It glowed faintly red. "Come! We must hurry if we're to stop the Doom Cannon!" They all stepped up on it, some cautiously, some boldly. Immediately, they all vanished in a red flash.

* * *

><p><strong>Anyone who's played Four Swords Adventures knows that Jalhalla comes back after being beaten so that makes that a lame reference! (cricket, cricket) Anyway, next is the battle to stop the cannon from blowing up Hyrule. You know, it seems that this wholes series has been full of doom-from-above as the villains' plot. Odd. R&amp;R.<strong>


End file.
